Incarceration
by Aura Spirit
Summary: When Latias is captured in the Garden, what happens next? Set between Life Like Latios and Home, both written by TheModerator. Story written with his permission
1. Kidnap

Incarceration: Chapter one

**This is fanfiction of a fanfiction. Fanfic-ception. Written with the permission of The Moderator to write a short-ish fic depicting what happened to Latias after the events of Life Like Latios, and what happens before the events of Home. I strongly recommend that you read those first, or you may be confused. –Aura Spirit.**

"You know Cassidy, I'm glad we got one of them before getting out of there. Did you hear that girl?"

"Don't call be sweets you bitch! Such a nasty temper on that one. Anyway, we need to get this Latias back to Giovanni. It's a shame we couldn't snag both, or pilfer the Soul Dew at the same time, but one will be enough, Butch."

Saying that, they both heard muffled cooing behind them, and several large bangs.

"It seems like our guest has woken up. Butch, take tranq gun and put her out again. It seems that we are going to need to use more than one shot, as we are only 20 minutes from the garden."

"That's not possible! It can't be awake already! I gave it enough tranquillisers to lay out a Rapidash!"

"You forget that Latias isn't a Rapidash, Butch. She's a legendary pokèmon. It's going to take a lot more than you think to keep it out for the while."

"Touché."

Butch picked up his tranquiliser rifle and headed through the cabin door into the holding cell. Said cell was occupied by one being, the Latias that they had captured from that garden in Alto Mare. Back here, the mechanical mechanisms powering and moving the Spider through the dirt was much loader than in the cabin, as the cabin was more insulated to block out that sort of noise. Anyone working back in the holding cell or if anything was kept in the holding cell, they had to work with the discomfort of constantly running machines, belts and pistons, all being very noisy with each cycle of the Spider's legs.

There was another huge bang from the energy cage, followed by a discharge of power being drawn from the cage and into the system. The Latias kept on ramming the cage, in what looked to Butch like a futile attempt to escape. With each hit, the kinetic energy built up with each charge was siphoned off to help power the system keeping the Spider moving. Not that it mattered, they had enough fuel to go twice around the world in a single run, so they were not worried about that. Hell, Latias could knock herself out for all he cared, it would save a tranquilliser dart. She would come around soon enough though, so he cocked the rifle anyway.

"Hello there Latias. Still trying to escape? A little tired, maybe? Well, I can help you with that."

Saying that, he took aim at the red and white dragon, and pulled the trigger. The energy cages were designed to let things into, but not out again. That way, no-one had to risk their lives knocking it out every twenty minutes by opening the cage. Butch had seen first-hand what a ticked-off dragon could do. It took him two hours to clean the bloodstains from the carpet after that Dragonite had gotten loose and tore apart three grunts. But, thanks to their technology, they had transcended that little problem.

The dart passed between the "bars" of the cage, hitting Latias in the neck. Latias cried out, slowly being pulled under the tide of fatigue caused by the dart. A second dart hit her in the shoulder, and a third partway down her back. She was long gone before the third hit.

Butch walked back into the cabin, glad to be away from the constant cacophony of machines.

"She'll be out for an hour or so. Is that long enough Cassidy?"

"That's fine. We'll be back at the base in forty minutes anyway. That gives us ample time to get Latias into a holding cell. Providing we don't have any interruptions, that is."

Giovanni sighed. Butch and Cassidy were late. Again. He would have sent his operatives in Italy to capture Latias, but they hadn't had any experience with Pokémon. Hell, they probably didn't even know what one was. Butch and Cassidy had to do for the moment. His radio suddenly sputtered into life with a burst of static.

"_Boss, we have Latias on board, and we're two minutes out from base. Could you prepare the surface zone with a containment cage? This Latias is a feisty one, and we don't want to have a similar incident as with the Dragonite…"_

Yes, well done indeed. They had come back alive, and with Latias in one piece too, Giovanni hoped. He could fetch quite a bit of money from the Italian mafia if he were to break Latias under his control, it would become an incredibly useful weapon. He could destroy his enemies under the power of Latias, it would be even easier as his enemies never really know what a Pokémon is. With the element of surprise, and a Legendary Dragon, he would literally be able to rule the world. Whilst Team Rocket grunts like Butch and Cassidy could be insolent at times, and even fail, they still got the job done.

"Copy that Spider. You know where to surface. Energy cages will be brought out… That Latias is ours now. Nothing will stop us. Nothing CAN stop us!"

**There you go. Chapter one of Incarceration. You can ask the Characters from Home and Life Like Latios at . . Remember to check out TheModerator, as he wrote those awesome stories. Rate and Review. Constructive Criticism is always welcome. Aura, out.**


	2. Containment

Chapter 2

**Apologies for the slow update. There are a few reasons for this. I'm trying to make the chapters longer, I had a migraine, I had a DofE practice hike, and a camp. Sorry. You guys deserve better. Thanks to the reviewers, your criticism is very helpful. Also, since FF butchered the link, it kind of did me a favour, as said link will be up soon. For those curious people out there, it was . . Simply remove the spaces and braces, and change "." And BAM! Link sorted. Anyway, Chapter 2!**

"_Now this is what I was looking for! Cassidy, Butch, good work."_

Slowly, the red dragon came to. She did not know where she was. She could hear voices, but they were faint, muffled, almost. She looked up. A harsh bright light was above her, in some sort of metal cage. She turned around before hitting a barrier. Glass. Then it dawned on her.

She was trapped.

Then she remembered.

The garden, the party, Lorenzo had gotten a job on a major news network, Latios had taken the fish, fell, and then the giant spider came. Except it wasn't a spider. There were people inside who wanted to take Latios away from her. But they took her instead, and shot her with… something. She couldn't remember anything after that. This was the first time she had remembered anything since.

"Ah, the specimen is awake."

A cruel voice echoed all around her chamber. A man, half-hidden by the shadows walked into view. He wore a black suit, and hat close- cropped hair with slightly tan skin. Latias did not understand why, but something told her that this man was dangerous. She felt that she needed to escape at the nearest opportunity. The barrier she had encountered was only glass, surely she could break through? She began to charge a Hyper Beam attack, stopping when an intense, freezing pain shot through her mouth the light emitted a tendril of energy which proceeded to clamp her jaw shut and freeze until she let go of the beginning of the Hyper Beam, letting the blue and green fragments of light disperse. After the last fragment dissipated, the tendril uncoiled from her mouth and retracted back into the light.

"Now, we'll have none of that. We wouldn't want you destroying the place, would we?"

Latias turned to the man. She had no desire to start a telepathic link with him so he could understand her. This man had KIDNAPPED her! She had been taken away from Latios, and had no idea where she was in relation to Alto Mare, as she couldn't feel her inner compass. Thinking of Latios, she started to tear up. She might never see him again. She'll be kept here for the rest of her lifetime (which is, to say, a very long time), trapped, while Bianca, Latios and Lorenzo try to find her location in the world. She didn't know where she was, so Bianca and Lorenzo had no chance, an Latios would be too far out of her Psychic range, even if her prison wasn't blocking that too. She sank to the bottom of the chamber.

"It looks like someone is missing their friends. How cute. But, I would let them go. It's not like you're going to see them again."

At these words, Latias burst out crying, pleading for someone to help her, even if this man or anyone else could understand. Surely they must now what distress looks like? She knew the glass wasn't soundproof; otherwise she wouldn't be able to hear the man in the black suit. She didn't know how long she stayed like that, but when she looked up again, the man in the black suit was gone.

Latias decided to take stock of her surroundings. She was in a glass canister in a long, thin room. The room only had two vents, one on each of the long walls. At the end of the room, there was a hatch, currently closed. At the other end, there were doors. Several banks of machinery had blinking lights on, and each surface had the same symbol on.

A red "R" on a white background. Team Rocket! Of course they had tried to capture her. They were always trying to steal rare and powerful Pokémon. Not long ago they had created an extremely powerful being which wanted to rule the world, soon after that, someone had tried to capture and control Celebi! Latias knew these were evil people, but she couldn't do anything to get away, due to the freezing tendril of light.

She heard the doors open, she looked outside. It was night-time, and the man in the suit was back. This time, he was holding some sort of pad in his hand. She didn't know what this pad did, but it bore the Team Rocket emblem, so she was wary of it.

"And you have every right to be wary of it. This machine can do many things."

How did he know what she was thinking?

"Oh, please. Do you really think that we haven't found a way to tap into a psychic field? Why do you think there's all of this machinery around? They're not sculptures, you know. Everything has a purpose."

The man then tapped the screen on the pad, and then spoke into it.

"Chopper Red-lead, are you ready to take the container?"

A voice echoed from the pad.

"Yes sir, Mr Giovanni!"

"Alright. Send in the scientists BEFORE we lift off. We cannot afford to waste any more time."

The next reply came after a few seconds.

"Scientists are en route, they should be there in one minute."

Latias was confused again. Why would they want scientists in here with her? Why was she in a chamber anyway? What were these people going to do to her?

"Let me answer all of your questions."

The man in the suit was speaking again. Arceus, she hated that voice.

"Number one: we want to have the most powerful weapons we can find. We need to figure out how to make you more powerful without using any Dark Balls. Those are expensive. Number two: we don't want our test subject to escape. We wouldn't be able to find you again. Finally, three: we can't have you disobeying us. We're merely going to make you more… obedient. What use is a weapon if it doesn't work properly? Take your Hyper Beam. We use that light to stop you from using it. What good is it if you cannot use what you've got? That's the case with you. If you don't do what we tell you to, what use are you to us? Any more questions?"

She had many questions, but she didn't want this man, Giovanni, knowing them. The doors of the room opened again, and this time four men and two women walked in, all wearing white coats.

"Mr Giovanni, we are ready to leave" The tallest one spoke. Aside from the coats, they were all wearing black uniforms with grey boots and gloves. They were all wearing hats too, which were also black. The tallest one had red linings on his hat.

"Excellent. Red-Lead, are you ready to go?" Giovanni spoke into the pad. Another voice spoke from it.

"Yes sir, Giovanni."

"Excellent. Take us up."

Immediately, Latias felt the entire container shift upwards, then jolt forward at an alarming speed. She then had a terrifying moment of realisation. Where was she going? She could end up on the opposite side of the world from Alto Mare! She could fly for long time, but not that far.

"It's a long flight to where we're going. Sleeping will make it… _fly_… by. Well, to you it'll be quicker. In all seriousness though, go. To. Sleep."

After Giovanni said those words, Latias heard a hissing noise above her. She looked up, and a white mist enveloped her. She held her breath. She had no intention of going to sleep. She could wait it out. Latios and herself were able to hold their breath for an extraordinarily long time, so this gas was of no problem whatsoever.

"Holding your breath, are we? I have done my homework, so to speak. I know how long you can hold your breath for. That's why we have _these_."

Giovanni held up a spiked barb.

"_What good could it do from out there_?" Latias thought.

"Fire."

Latias heard another hissing sound, this time from the corners of the chamber. Some sort of tube with a red light was swivelling towards her.

She did not expect the bang, nor did she expect the stabbing pain which lanced through her left wing. The pain it inflicted caused her to cry in pain and take in a breath; then she realised what she had done. Already she could feel herself losing consciousness to the mist that wreathed her, she could feel her psychic field failing, she could feel her eyes beginning to close, before sinking to the floor of the chamber and falling asleep.

Giovanni watched as Latias sank to the floor of the chamber. The gas was still there, so no-one could go in yet, but he still had a way around that.

"I want a blood sample studied before we get to the Echelon Complex. We need to know how they use their moves. We've tried using TMs, and we tried psychically sharing the intelligence to use moves. Both have failed. We haven't tried blood. Get it done."

"Yes sir."

One of the scientists stepped forward, fitting a gas mask over her face and entered the chamber, a large hypodermic needle in her hands. She pressed it into Latias' shoulder and extracted blood, filling the needle. The scientist backed out from the chamber through the airlock, and with a hiss of machinery, the gas was extracted from the airlock and back into the chamber. The scientist took the now-filled needle to another machine, one which looked like a simple set of drawer to the untrained eye. The nitrogen-filled canisters gave the game away to those who knew the uses of nitrogen: Cryogenic storage. The scientist unlocked the first drawer and deposited the needle inside, sealing it into its own compartment, before closing the drawer again.

"Excellent." It was Giovanni who spoke. "Get those tests going. I want to have the key to human move use as soon as possible."

"Yes sir."

All of the scientists took up positions around the storage unit's banks of controls, ready to begin to search for the key; Giovanni's key to world domination. This was beyond petty Pokémon thievery. That was over a decade ago. Team Rocket was above such… childish acts of defiance against the lawful systems keeping the world peaceful. But everything has an opposite. Up and Down. Light and Dark. Order and Chaos. Giovanni wanted those tests done as soon as possible. His vision of a world was far different to others.

Where most people dream of prosperity, he dreamed of Chaos. It was the same dream, on the same charred landscape, headed towards that obsidian castle. At the centre of the dream, he saw himself, it was always himself. He saw himself on the throne inside the black castle, he saw the most powerful of Pokémon around him.

He had the world at his feet.

"_Get a hold of yourself, that isn't reality."_ His inner conscience scolded him. _"Soon though. Soon, that will all be yours."_

**There you go. Chapter Numero Dos. Once again, apologies for the near- hiatus, I was busy with various things. I will try to make the next chapter at least as long as this one, if not longer. Please keep on reviewing, you criticism always helps. Aura, out.**


	3. Transport

Chapter 3

**It's finally here! Half-life 3 is not, however.**

Giovanni was thinking. He was overlooking his scientists work with the blood samples extracted from Latias. After they had tries to use TMs to try and teach a move, as well has using a Psychic program, blood transfusions were the next option. They needed a powerful Pokémon like Latias for the best quality genes required for move tuition.

Well, that was the theory.

So far, six blood samples had been extracted. Each one would be used under certain conditions. The first sample would be administered as it was, with no special conditions. The second would be heated so that the blood would be more energised, in hopes that it reacts enough. The third would be evaporated, to be used in place of the second one if it wasn't powerful enough. The forth would be cooled down if the heated blood is too powerful for the human body. The fifth would be frozen then taken like a pill if the blood was still too powerful. The sixth would be ionised with special radioactive particles, going by the theory that new cells cannot be introduced until older cells are removed. The radiation would kill some human cells, leaving space for the cells in Latias' genetic makeup.

Giovanni had every contingency covered.

It was all a matter of waiting. Team Rocket had evolved since its downfall all those years ago.

Giovanni sighed. It was a long flight to their destination. They wouldn't have to do a refuel stop; his air vehicles were designed to be able to go at least halfway around the world without refuelling, lowering the risk of detection. That, and their air vehicles are decked out with reflective plating to avoid radar, and jammers to block radio chatter from non- Team Rocket vehicles. They were incognito.

Giovanni decided to have a nap. He would get bored on the journey, and sleeping would make it fly by. (**A/N no pun intended**) He headed to a private compartment at the back of the container, and got into the bed. It was only small, with a single bed, one cupboard and a toilet; only the compulsory things to reduce weight and to maximise speed. Blocking out the noise of the rotors, he closed his eyes and drifted off...

Airfield, somewhere in the UK

"Commodore, we have Red Lead on radio, they're requesting permission to land."

Commodore Hunter walked to the operator. Looking on the log, he saw the radio frequency noted down. He knew that only Red Lead hailed on a frequency of 438MHz. Hunter also knew that Red Lead carried important cargo, and most of the time, Giovanni was on-board. Of course they had permission.

"Red Lead, this is the Commodore. You have permission to land, Pad Five. A container transporter will be on site for your touchdown."

"Copy that."

The relative peace was interrupted by the roar of the huge engine of the eighteen wheeled articulated truck heading out to the fifth landing pad, where Red Lead would be landing. The truck took its position on the pad, ready to take the container from the helicopter. Soon after the truck had crossed the large concrete expanse, the tell-tale roar of the chopper rotors filled the air, and Red Lead burst into view from the clouds, the huge container suspended beneath the hulking black chopper. It slowed to a few feet per second, before coming to a complete halt above the truck. The helicopter rotated to the correct angle, before descending and resting the container of the flatbed of the truck.

"Commodore, the container is down. Releasing hooks and retracting cable."

The powerful clamps keeping the container in place sprung loose, and the huge steel cables retracted into the underbelly of the chopper.

"Cable retracted. Truck is loose."

"Copy that Red Lead, the container is being secured."

With a whine of machinery, clamps emerged from the bed of the truck, pulling the container onto the bed of the truck.

"Red Lead, containment complete. The truck is moving away, you are free to land."

"Copy, landing."

The helicopter descended to the ground just as the truck pulled away.

"Commodore, we're down. Shutting down."

The powerful engines shut down, and the rotors spun to a halt. An eerie silence settled over the airfield as the drone of the engines cut out.

"Sir, Giovanni is inside the container with Latias. He's on the radio now."

"Hand it over."

Hunter took the radio, and Giovanni's voice crackled into life.

"Commodore, this is Giovanni. Contact the Echelon Complex. Call sign is "Epicentre". The challenge is "Phoenix", countersign "Hatchet.""

"Confirmed Giovanni, they are being notified now. Exit by gate 3 for the quickest journey."

With that, the truck accelerated towards gate 3, exiting the airfield and heading towards the Echelon Complex. There was only one problem with this route; they had to go through a residential area in Dinnington. Giovanni hoped they wouldn't draw attention to themselves. Detection was the last thing they needed. With those thoughts in mind, Giovanni sat down again. He would just have to wait and see, and hope that they didn't get pulled over before they got to Echelon.

Mac Simmons was walking. He wasn't walking anywhere; he was just wandering through the streets, not really minding where he went. He was a tall 17 year old, working as an engineer building plane turbines.

He did have to do something though, and that was to restock on milk. He had run out sometime in the week, and without his mother there, he had forgotten to buy some more. With that in mind, he headed to the small corner shop to buy milk. He was expecting a queue there; what he was not expecting was a huge articulated truck to come screeching down the road whilst he was crossing. It showed no sign of slowing down as it bore down on him, so he had to dive out of the way. Just as his legs were clear, the truck roared by.

"Jesus Christ!"

The grunt behind the wheel almost pressed the brake down when he saw a teenager directly in front of his engine block. Then he remembered his orders: do not stop under any circumstances. The grunt simply pressed the pedal down further. He had no intention of disobeying his orders. That would not end well for him. This teenager ought to be more careful and look both ways before crossing.

"Are you alright, young man?"

Mac looked up to a woman staring at him. She had obviously just seen his near miss with the truck.

"I'm fine thanks, just shaken."

"Alrighty then. If you say so."

He stood up and brushed himself off. He was more than shaken. He was curious. Huge, eighteen wheel cargo trucks weren't meant to come through Dinnington. They had no reason to. There was a motorway nearby which was much easier to use. But then again, the truck didn't look normal. It was all black with only one thing a different colour: A red "R". He didn't recognise the logo. So he did the thing any curious person would do. He followed it. The cold days left snow on the ground, so he followed the widest set of tracks. The track went relatively straight, not that anything going at that speed could navigate the narrow streets of Dinnington. He came to the decision that anything coming through Dinnington at that speed is extremely important. What he didn't understand is why they didn't take their cargo by air if it's that important. Helicopters can land near enough anywhere these days.

Mac followed the tracks for about twenty minutes before coming up to a printing press. The tracks veered off the road sharply here, towards the press. Mac also found this strange. Why would a printing press need anything transported in an eighteen wheel articulated truck? Mac had to know. The milk could wait, for he felt that there was something off about this whole situation and the printing press. There must have been more to this building that meets the eye. He walked through the gates, into the grounds. He had not been here before, so he was in the blind.

From his own knowledge, Mac knew that the printing press was an old building, falling down in many places. It had several large unloading bays for shipping out newspapers and other magazines. None of the bays seemed big enough for the articulated truck that he saw earlier. The bays looked big enough for the normal post vans that he saw often, your bog-standard four wheel red vans. That's what these bays are designed for, right?

As he kept on walking, he heard voices. He headed towards to the voice, coming from around a corner. He looked around it first before walking on, and he was glad that he did. He saw the truck from earlier, the container on its flatbed being hooked up to a pulley system. He heard a conversation between two people going on.

"Is the cargo ready for movement?"

"Yes. Shall we get Latias out?"

"Yes. Just remember to wear your mask. We can't have you knocked out with Latias, I can't carry her on my own, even if the trolley is three feet away."

"I won't forget."

Many questions were travelling through Mac's head at this point. What was a Latias? Why were these people taking this Latias to a printing press? Why was it being carried in an articulated truck in the first place?

"Alright, bring out the blood samples first."

Mac saw one of the two men stood there enter the truck. He returned carrying two vials filled with what was obviously blood. He did this two more times, making the total amount of samples up to six.

"Alright, the samples are out. Now let's move Latias."

This time, Mac watched both men enter the truck, and he heard several whirrs of machinery from inside. When the two men re-emerged, they were carrying what looked like a large red and white bird between them. They carried to the trolley which they had put the blood samples under, and placed it, rather roughly, on top.

"Alright, keep her sedated. We cannot have her getting loose at this point."

"Yes sir."

The two men pushed the trolley into the building. Mac saw that on their backs was the red "R", the same as on the truck. Mac decided that there was no going back now. He NEEDED to know what was going on here. Waiting until the two men had disappeared, he crept forward to where they had gone inside. To anyone else, this would just look like a standard unloading bay, but to Mac, he felt that there was something strange going on somewhere in this building. Opening the door, he walked inside, into the unknown.

**Glad I sorted this out. Sorry to keep y'all waiting. If anyone had already read this chapter, a major continuity error has been sorted after it was so kindly pointed out by TheModerator (Cheers bro). Other than that, chapter three is here. Aura, out.**


	4. Discovery

Incarceration Chapter 4

Here it is. Mock exams and D of E practice hikes. Had to walk like a Draugr for a few days. Also, if you like psychic types, you may be less than happy with some of the events in this chapter specifically regarding Reuniclus. M rating is there for a reason. You have been warned.

The two grunts were pushing the trolley with Latias on it through the old Printing Press. They weren't taking the normal route through the dilapidated building. This time they were going to an elevator that they weren't allowed to use. They knew it only went in one direction: down. What was down there, neither of them knew. Only high-ranking individuals were allowed down there, or members of the science team. They were told to place the trolley inside the elevator, but not to get in themselves; otherwise they'd be sanctioned severely.

"Is this the elevator?" One grunt asked.

"I guess so. So what do we do? Just press the button?"

"I guess so."

The grunt that spoke first stepped forward and pressed the button. The button lit up.

"Now what?"

"Wait, I guess."

Unbeknownst to them, Mac was watching them from an air duct. He had decided to enter the vent for stealth reasons. If he couldn't be seen, he would not be found out. Judging by how the truck driver hadn't slowed down and nearly ran him over, he figured that these people were less than friendly. Mac had followed them from when they entered the building from the loading bay. In the time between entering and where he was now, Mac had come to a conclusion; this printing press was doing more than printing newspapers, and he really shouldn't be caught snooping around here.

From his vantage point in the air duct he could see the "Latias" quite well. It looked like some kind of giant bird, although for a bird, that long neck shape wasn't common. Mac deduced that it must be predatory and had that long neck for snatching pray out of the air. He could see that it was primarily red, with a white chest, neck and head. It's eyes were closed, so he couldn't tell what colour they were. It had some form of snout, and its mouth looked like it was underneath the snout. He saw four, wing-like appendages; all of them near the back of its body, two longer ones on top. He assumed that it used them to fly, but they looked too thin to be used for flapping. Nearer to the front of its body, he saw two arms; both had what he presumed to be elbows, but no visible wrists. Each "hand" had three claws on it. On its head, there was a red, pentagonal outline. From his angle, that was all he could see.

"Finally!"

Mac looked towards the lift to see that it had arrived. He could only see the bottom of the doors, but no one inside it. He had to listen.

"Alright grunts. I'll take Latias from here. Push the trolley into the lift, then leave."

The grunts looked at each other. Shrugging, they pushed the trolley into the lift, then walked away. As the doors closed, Mac saw that the vent he was in led into the elevator shaft. He decided to climb on top of it before it pulled away. Crawling through the vent, he lowered himself onto the elevator. Just as he did, it started to descend into the unknown.

Inside the elevator, the scientist was waiting for the elevator to reach its destination. His name was Doctor Lych. He wasn't old as such, just middle age, with short black hair with a beard. He had glasses over his piercing green eyes. He was the head scientist of the project they were running: trying to teach humans to use moves, creating an army fit for taking the over the world. They needed powerful blood samples, more specifically from legendary Pokémon like Latias. The experiments would take place at this lab. He had a team of scientists helping him, but only the most high-ranking ones and most trusted ones. There were only nine of them and him running this project. To keep it even more secret, the project was anonymous. Nobody else other than his scientists and Giovanni knew about the labs' existence. It was here where there were no intruders.

For an added measure of security, everyone involved with the project, excluding the test subjects, had at least been through an advanced course of combat training, negating the need for a security force. They had orders from Giovanni himself to terminate any unauthorised personnel entering the lab. Again, to reduce the risk of contamination, they were armed with ballistic needle guns, each needle covered with a lethal compound of Cyanide and Ricin. The weapons were pneumatic, based on a paintball gun, to reduce the smoke from the standard powder-based mechanisms. Upon being fired, the weapon releases a compression blast, pushing the loaded needle down the barrel at speed. On hit, the needle pierces the skin, leaving the toxins inside the body. The victim would die in seconds; unless they look fit enough to be a test subject. In that case, they would use their second plan of neutralisation; running up close and sedating them manually.

This would be the case for the next unfortunate non- authorised person to come down. They needed another test subject. Their last one died while trying to escape.

They did not make it far.

With a ding, the door opened. The Echelon complex was revealed. To his left, Doctor Winona and Doctor Mundy were working with computers, searching through the DNA sequences of Pokémon to try and unlock the secret to using moves. Beside them, Doctor Blackburn and Doctor Daniels were looking at Human DNA to search for any differences between the DNA sequences. To the right, Doctor Clark and Doctor Kane were waiting for their blood samples from Latias. They were in charge of the heated blood.

After them, Doctor Frederic and Doctor Harrison were waiting for their blood samples. They were in charge of the blood that would be cooled down.

Finally, Doctor Lych's right-hand-man, Doctor Einarth, was waiting for him. Einarth was in charge of the standard blood, whilst Lych was in charge of the special blood which would be ionised.

The ionisation process was by no means safe. It involved bombarding the blood with gamma rays; so many that they expected the chamber to be filled with as much radiation that was emitted after ten minutes in Chernobyl: roughly fifty Sieverts. This amount of radiation was bordering on insane, but wasn't trying to teach a human a move insane, too?

"Good day, Lych."

"Good day, Einarth. I have the samples. Everyone, take the samples that you have been assigned. I want these tests running ASAP. Einarth, start your scan, and then get ready to introduce the isotope in the test chamber."

He was met with a volley of "Yes, sir" before the blood samples were taken to their respective testing areas. The vials were opened and poured into isolation chambers in each of the machines. The heating started up, looping energy through tesla coils to bring the blood to temperature quickly. The cooling machine was simply filled with ice, while the freezing machine was filled with liquid nitrogen for speed. The standard blood had its scan started immediately, while Lych and Einarth took the final sample to an airlock. They could not risk the radiation escaping from the test chamber. All doctors on the project had immediate access to HazMat suits and gas masks, all lead lined to prevent radiation poisoning. Lych and Einarth both got into their hazard suits and donned their masks. The controls were inside the chamber, so nothing short of a HazMat suit wearing scientist could operate the chamber controls without being subjected to almost ten times the lethal dose of radiation.

While their voices were muffled to a point that it was barely recognisable as speech, both Doctors could understand each other.

"Einarth, you prepare the emitters. I'll place the blood."

"Yes, sir."

The airlock opened. Both doctors walked through the decontamination chamber, and through another airlock. They could not risk any chance of the radiation escaping. At last, they reached the test chamber. It was a large, circular room with a podium in the centre and a ladder leading to banks of controls. Lych walked to the podium and placed the vial on it. Einarth climes the ladder and started the starting sequence. As he did, the chambers' lights turned red. Sirens started to wail, heralding the imminent dumping of deadly radiation. The air locks shut down, dead locking themselves, to ensure that none should pass into the chamber.

"Lych, the emitters are ready. Activate them?"

"Go for it."

The lights began to flash, and multiple panels on the walls opened and lit up. They calibrated themselves to be aiming at the blood vial before blasting gamma rays and radiation. Almost immediately, the Geiger counter attached to his suit went crazy, clicking to fast to register individual clicks. Lych watched the vial of blood for any changes. Slowly, the blood seemed to become more vibrant, becoming a brighter red. Lych took this as the signal to stop the emitters.

"Einarth, shut down the emitters."

"Sir."

Slowly, the noise of the emitters faded, and the panels slid back over them. The lights stayed red. They would do until the chamber was completely empty of any radiation. There was only one way to do that, and that was to heat-treat the room until the radioactive particles became too hot to exist. However, that would ruin the basis of the test, so the sample had to be retrieved first.

"Einarth, I'm going to retrieve the sample."

Picking up a wrench, he approached the sample, and picked it up between the two claws of the wrench. He then went to a different panel, and Einarth opened it. He placed the sample inside the system. It would have to be scanned separately as to not contaminate the laboratory. They would be able to see it; it would be observed through special lead-lined glass.

"Einarth, shut down all systems and open the doors. We're done in here."

"Yes sir."

Einarth started to type on the controls, opening the first airlock. He climbed down the ladder, joining Lych as they both headed towards the airlock. The doors closed behind them, sealing the test chamber off to be decontaminated. They headed towards their own decontamination rooms, where the automatic systems drenched the area in water, removing the radiation from their suits. They continued to the final airlock, removing the suits and hanging them up on the specified hooks.

With a hiss, the final set of doors opened, leaving them in the lab. Ignoring the other scientists, Lych walked towards the viewing platform, through which he could see the system placing the vial of blood inside the scanning crucible. Almost immediately, the readings started to appear, and an image of the genes inside the blood. He brought up the database image of the genes inside human blood, and started to compare them. The system scanned both sets of genes; the two images were cross-referenced with each other, and two things stood out.

One: the ionised blood was glowing.

Two: the ionised Pokémon blood had an almost identical makeup to the human blood. Some human genes were changed in Pokémon blood, but the ionised blood kill of the human genes- making space for the new ones. This needed testing.

Mac was still on top of the elevator. It had long since stopped moving, but the descent had struck him as odd. The shaft had no built walls, just the rocks of the vertical cave the elevator had gone down. It seemed to go down further than was permitted for buildings this size. He thought about the large cave-in that the press was built over, and thought that that must be why this building goes down this far. It certainly made sense, as the cave-in was quite deep, and Mac could only just light at the top of the shaft some 200 metres upwards.

Mac thought about his current position. He had to get off the elevator, preferably through another vent, but the only vent had a grate on it, which would be incredibly difficult to remove without causing a huge amount of noise. Mac could hear machinery, and the voices of more people down here. He looked back to the vent. He could see the rusted screws holding the grate in place, but he had no screwdrivers. They weren't the sort of thing you carry around with you.

"If only I had a coin." He thought to himself, before realising; he was carrying a coin. A few of them, considering he was carrying the money for the milk he had been planning on buying before the eighteen- wheeled articulated truck piqued his interest by almost running him over. He removed a coin from his pocket before hearing a rather irate voice bellow:

"Who the HELL left Latias out here?! It's supposed to be contained!"

Mac couldn't see who was shouting, but he could use the ruckus to disguise the sound of his infiltration. Slowly, he began to unscrew the fittings holding the grate in place. One by one, they came loose, and he lifted the grate away. Carefully setting it down as to not make noise, he entered the vent.

In the lab, Lych was fuming. His team had not contained Latias, instead leaving it on the trolley, but unstrapped. If it had awoken, there was nothing to stop it from butchering them all and flying away. He had seen what a displeased dragon could do.

The Garchomp was asleep. Not a natural sleep, but a sedated coma so that it could be experimented upon. Lych was younger then, 10 years younger than his current self. He was with a different group of scientist than his current team. Doctors Caine and Lucas were trying to find the key to teach a human a move. Their latest attempt would be to "file share" memories, through the use of several psychic type Pokémon scanning for move knowledge in the Garchomp's brain and sending it over. The Garchomp, the subject and all of the chosen Reuniclus were in the chamber.

They were ready to begin.

The Reuniclus began to glow blue as they started to use their psychic abilities. They pooled their energy into a stream of light, and then moved the light between the grunt and the Garchomp. The light moved into the grunt's head, the grunt gasping as it did so. The light approached the Garchomp. The energy stream slowed down before entering the Garchomp's head.

The grunt screamed in pain.

The Garchomp's eyes snapped open. A terrible roar of pure fury escaped from its throat. It began straining against its bonds. Launching a Flamethrower attack on the chains, they melted away, allowing to stand.

Lych had paled at the sight of the hulking blue dragon inside the chamber.

"Gas the chamber!"

Inside, the Garchomp turned to the grunt, strapped down, helpless. It leapt forward, and in one smooth motion, brought its arm around and severed the grunt's neck. Blood sprayed from the half of the neck still attached to the body, arching up and splattering down the walls.

Outside the chamber, Lych was still waiting for the gas to vent. It always took a long time to vent, as they gas was VX, and they kept the component chemicals separate for security. They couldn't afford to let the VX escape in its lethal compound, nor could they afford to hire more scientists if they died. Unfortunately for Lych, there were people dying in the chamber, the VX would finish anyone who wasn't wearing their mask in time.

The Garchomp had just killed the final grunt inside the chamber. The blades on its arms were covered in blood. The walls were covered in blood. The bodies were bleeding. It heard a groan from underneath itself. A grunt, his back broken, was pulling himself along using his arms. He was crawling to his mask, feebly groping for it. The Garchomp leaned down, and gripping the grunt's arm, tore the arm from its socket. The grunt screamed, before finally losing too much blood and falling into unconsciousness. The Reuniclus were watching in horror, frozen with fear. They didn't move. Only when the Garchomp turned to them did they realise how much danger they were in. They charged up attack after attack, but the Garchomp didn't falter. Striding up to the first Reuniclus, it slashed at the green slime protecting the arm of the Reuniclus. It cleaved straight through. The severed limb fell to the ground, decaying as it fell. The other Reuniclus were screeching, launching more attacks at the Garchomp, desperately trying to destroy its mind and incapacitate it. The Garchomp approached the second Reuniclus, repeatedly stabbing at it with the spike at the end of its arm. The Reuniclus cried in pain, trying to float out of the way of the relentless attacks, but the Garchomp forced it to the ground. The dragon straddled the helpless Reuniclus, constantly stabbing it until it didn't move any more. The green slime engulfing the Reuniclus dissipated and the skin followed, leaving bleach-white bones behind. The Garchomp turned its attention to the remaining Reuniclus, and with three quick slashes, took the heads of each one. The one with its arm torn out was still alive. It was desperately using recover, and spotting the Garchomp approaching, threw up a Protect. As it did, a hiss finally emanated from the vents as the VX was delivered into the chamber. The Garchomp glared at the gas, eyeing it closely before roaring and charging towards the Reuniclus, trying to break the Protect. It suddenly stopped, rearing back and choking. It began to stumble around uncontrollably, as the VX took effect. It began to spasm wildly, coughing up blood, before a particularly violent spasm caused a crack to reverberate around the chamber.

The Garchomp's back.

It folded back on itself, bring the bloodbath to an end. Outside, Lych was white with shock. In the space of 30 seconds, Lych had lost a grunt, two scientists and four Reuniclus, massacred, all because of poor precautions. Next time, he would not make that mistake.

It was time for a different method.

Lych shuddered at the memory. His current team wasn't there, so they had no first-hand experience of what a furious dragon could do. After that, they had stored the VX in more secure containers, already mixed for rapid deployment. There had been fewer losses thanks to the quick deployment to kill anyone or anything hostile inside the lab. He sighed. He wheeled the trolley into the containment chamber. He wasn't sure how Latias would react, but he had a feeling that it would try to escape by any means necessary. The huge doors of the containment chamber slid shut after he left. She would wake up soon, so he had the rest of the team get ready for testing. They would use the blood after trying to "file share" memories again. It was almost time to test.

Inside the vent, Mac could see the expanse of the lab. He saw 10 scientists, all with strange weapons holstered at their legs. He could see several banks of machinery, and many doors leading to small rooms with a window each. Through one of the windows, he could see the creature from earlier, still sleeping, and still attached to the trolley. Mac wanted to help it, as these people didn't seem to be the type of people who would be pet sitters. Many questions were circling through his head. Who were these people? What was this creature? Why was there so much security? He pressed on, crawling through the vent, when a sound from above him caught his attention. The vent was coming loose! Looking forward, he saw that the vent was made up of sections, all about two meters long. With a sudden jolt, the section he was in descended into the lab below...

Plot twist! What will become of Mac? Or of Latias? Find out next time.

On another note, I did get to shoot a Pneumatic cannon at Bear Grylls' arse. Good times.

Aura, out.


	5. Plotting

**Incarceration Chapter 5**

"Well, what do we have here?"

Mac looked forward. A face was looking back at him from the end of the vent section. How they knew he was I the vent was beyond him.

"Slowly crawl out of the vent, then turn around and place your hands on top of the vent. No sudden moves, otherwise we'll kill you. Don't worry, they'll never find the body. Let's just say that you'll be... donated to science."

Mac was hardly in a position to argue. He began to move towards the opening of the vent, slowly emerging from his one exit path. He dropped out of the opening, before slowly standing up and turning around before placing his hands on the vent. As he did so, he couldn't help but notice that the strange weapons he had seen before were all trained on him.

"Did you really think that you could just waltz into here without being caught? You thought that a top secret research area like this one wouldn't have some form of detectors? Like thermal, or infrared? We knew you were there from the moment you arrived. Sorry kiddo, but you really had no chance."

Mac was already trying to think of an exit route. He couldn't stay here. However, he didn't want to take chances with those guns being pointed at him. They looked like paintball guns, but he didn't think that they would be threatening him with death via a paintball gun.

"I can see that you're interested in these firearms. The guns that the others are holding fire killing needles covered in cyanide and ricin, propelled by compressed Carbon Dioxide. Mine, however, has two triggers. One will fire a dart which will only knock you out, but the other will deliver our potent toxin."

Mac now noticed that the leader did in fact have two barrels, and two triggers.

"Curious how you show up on this day in particular. We're in need of a test subject, and we can't afford to keep killing the grunts. Since you went to such _trouble_ to get here, you may as well "help" us. Not that you have a choice in the matter of course. Move towards the room over there."

The scientist indicated to the same room that Latias was in.

"Since we can't afford to keep on killing grunts, we need someone else to test- and potentially kill- that won't cost us money."

Mac was unceremoniously thrown into the room, and the door was closed behind him, leaving him and two other scientists in the room. Latias was strapped down on a surgical table. It had a strange sort of helmet on, also strapped down so it couldn't be removed. Next to the table, there was a chair, fitted out with heavy looking clips and manacles. Clearly, it was designed to keep someone still.

"Get in the chair."

Mac complied. From the lead scientist's description of the weapons pointed at him, he didn't want poisonous needles shot at him. He sat down, and as soon as he did, the manacles locked his limbs. The scientists pulled a strap around his head, preventing it from moving. The scientists turned to him.

"For your protection, not ours."

Then, a helmet dropped down, securing itself to his head, with nodes on his temples and on the base of his skull.

With that, the two scientists left the chamber. The leader's voice crackled to life over the intercom.

"Alright, test number one. Subjects: Latias and Mr..?"

The scientist trailed off.

"You there. Yes you, what is your name?"

Mac looked up.

"My name is Mac Simmons."

"Alright then. Test number one, subjects Latias and Mr Simmons. Another attempt of thought-sharing. Start it up."

The sound of tesla arcs ripped through the room, the lightning burning the air around it, forming a connection between the two. Mac couldn't let these people get what they wanted. He pushed back, rejecting the mind being pushed towards his own. The arcs intensified, getting brighter and louder as the machine tried to enforce its own rule over the situation. Latias' mind was behind forced over his own, he felt the desperation inside the mind, and the sorrow. A whispering could be heard from Latias' mind, but to Mac, only one word was repeated.

Home.

Latias wanted to go home.

Mac made a decision. He was getting Latias home.

Mac pushed back against her mind, resisting it, but not hurting it. He felt the force weaken, before cutting out entirely. The tesla arcs were no longer there. The chair was still locked, though. The door opened, and the lead scientist stepped through. He walked towards Mac with a look of fury. He raised his fist, and brought it down hard across Mac's face.

"Damnit, Mr Simmons! Why didn't you accept it? You could have known how to use moves! Why?"

Mac looked up. He saw the fury in the eyes of the scientist, he saw the sheer contempt for him.

"Why don't you want to know? Why do you resist?"

Mac looked into the eyes of the scientist. He turned and looked at Latias, who was waking up. Mac could see her eyes now. They were gold. Mac turned back to the scientist.

At that point the he struck him across the jaw again.

"Prepare the blood. We are going all in with the ionised blood."

A hatch in the wall opened up. The scientist grabbed the sample and a large needle. He loaded the needle, and plunged it into Mac's arm.

"Sedate them both. Let's wait for the blood to take effect."

Two more scientists entered the chamber, pulling syringes from beneath their lab coats. On injected Latias, the other approached Mac.

"Night-night, asshole."

The scientist injected Mac with the sedative. Almost immediately he felt it taking effect, a cold feeling spreading from his arm, down his body, knocking him out cold when it reached his head.

*** Dreamstate***

_Mac awoke... somewhere. He didn't know where, but he knew it wasn't the laboratory, considering that he could move freely. It was more of a white void, stretching in all directions. He hadn't awoken naturally, but to someone poking him repeatedly. _

_Or someone._

_Turning around, he saw Latias, poking his side with her snout in an attempt to wake him up._

"Hey, I'm awake. What do you want?"

_Latias seemed to stop for a moment, before he heard her voice in his head._

"Please just listen. These people are bad people. They took me from my brother. I don't know where I am. I need your help to get home. Please get me out of here! I can't talk anymore; they've noticed our link, they're severing it."

_After Latias said that, the void started to fade to black, Latias fading with it._

***End Dreamstate***

When Mac awoke, the room was dark, and the only light was coming from low-level bulbs lining the floor. The main lights were off, making it very dark. He could see the door, still shut for the fact that Mac was in a room with a dragon. A very dangerous dragon, one that would probably do whatever it takes to get back to wherever she came from. Right now he couldn't tell if Latias was awake at the moment, it was too dark to see her. Mac was still locked into the chair, so he still couldn't escape from this place.

Or at least he couldn't yet.

He was making a plan. He knew that they would just shut down the elevator if he tried to use it, so he had to use the vents again. Most elevators have an emergency ladder on the side of the shaft. If this one also had one, he'd be able to use it to escape.

He was just about to start thinking about how he could reach the elevator when a stab of pain lanced through his arm. Unbeknownst to Mac, the blood had started it's destructive journey through his body, removing the human genes that prevented move tutoring. The pain was persistent, like a ball of fire travelling through his system. This pain lasted for a good few minutes before petering out. Mac pulled in air. If that happened during his escape, he'd be shot down before he could get anywhere near the elevator. Even then, he'd need to get up the shaft before the scientists could get a good shot at him, otherwise he would be killed.

Then, Mac had a thought. Latias, judging by how she had taken his mind to a white void, was psychic. Maybe she could put a shield of some sort up to block the needles from hitting either of them.

Obviously, no-one was coming. Mac decided to take the chance. He turned towards Latias.

"Latias? Are you awake?"

Latias stirred, opening her eyes and looking around before looking at Mac. He heard her voice in his head:

_"I'm awake. Have you figured out how you could get us out of here?"_

"Yes. I need you to psychic these shackles open first, though."

_"Easy."_

The shackles glowed blue for a second, before opening with a quiet click. The whole process was silent, except for the shackles clicking open. It was Mac's turn now. He stood up and headed over to the straps holding Latias down, undoing them one by one. Pulling the last one off, Latias floated upward, stretching herself out, before turning around and flying at Mac and pinning him to the floor. Mac spoke out into a hushed whisper.

"What are you doing?!"

Her eyes started to glow with blue energy.

_"Checking that you're not one of them."_

"One of who?"

_"Them"_, motioning towards the door. Mac got the point then. She was checking that he wasn't one of the scientists, whoever they were. Before he could think any further, he felt her presence press against his mind, before any other train of thought was obliterated by what felt like a knife being driven through his conscience. Mac managed to look back at Latias. Her eyes were now completely blue now, and they were glowing brighter than before. He was suddenly overcome with all of the memories of his life, from birth, to moving to Dinnington, to following the articulated truck, to his infiltration and his capture; finally leading up to the point he was at, when the psychic intrusion ended. Latias removed the barrier that was holding him down, allowing him to stand. Mac walked to the door and tested the handle. Locked, as he expected. He turned to Latias again. She just used Psychic again, but this time there was no effect.

"Can you not open the door?"

_"No. My Psychic didn't work, so we might have to create a distraction so that the scientists open the door. We can't do anything from this side."_

"Wonderful."

Mac started to think of how they could cause a convincing distraction. Latias interrupted his thoughts again.

_"Any ideas?"_

Mac did, in fact, have an idea.

"Latias, can you put up shields?"

_"Yes. It's called Protect. It creates an impenetrable barrier for as long as I can hold it."_

"Will it stop high speed bullets?"

_"It stops everything."_

"Alright. You need to make it look as if you've gone crazy. You need melt part of the wall, as if you've been trying to burn me. Get me in one of the corners of the room, and make it look like you're genuinely attacking me. I can't believe I'm saying this, but you will probably need to cut me at some point to make it believable. Once the door's open, keep it open with Psychic or Protect, and incapacitate the scientists. Don't kill them. I don't want their blood on my hands. Is that alright?"

Latias seemed to think this over in her head, considering the plan. She turned to Mac and nodded.

_"We're getting out, one way or another."_

Mac was shocked at Latias' sudden change of character. She was always scared, and now she was ready to take on ten combat-trained scientists with someone who she had just met.

"Alright. Start "attacking" me. Let's lure them out…"

**Finally got this out. I had a drum exam, more D of E planning, but also a trip to Alton Towers. Rita is fast as hell. Keep an eye out for my next chapter, it'll be out soon.**

**And about that exam, THE RESULTS ARE IN! The outcome was that….**

**I PASSED! I'm now a certified Grade 6 drummer, ready to move onto Grade 7. Go me!**

**Aura, out.**


	6. Escape

**Incarceration Chapter 6**

**Alright, this will probably be the last chapter, as I probably won't be able to prolong it anymore due to the fact that it takes place between two stories. There's only so much I can do without adding any unforeseen consequences to the plot. Also, I apologise that it took so long to release it. I had stuff on over the summer and I'll admit it: I did forget for a while. Anyhow, enjoy.**

Lych was sleeping. Looking at the spasmodic twitches he was making, you would be forgiven for thinking that he was dreaming. Lych, however, did not dream. It was much simpler than that. He envisioned the results of any test he managed to conceive during the course of his life. In these time streams, he saw monsters, monsters that he had created and that had been driven mad with power. But, there were memories entwined with the visions. Each one ebbed with the flow, occasionally coming into focus. One memory began to surface, a memory of a terrible day which almost cost Lych his life.

The memory unfolded, swarming around before dissipating, leaving Lych in a laboratory. Inside a sealed room was a human, currently strapped to a chair, but sedated so that he wouldn't scream. He simply stared with cold, judging eyes at his jailer.

In these days, Lych was not a studier of Pokémon, for he had never been to the islands that were inhabited by Pokémon. At this point in time, he was studying a strange discipline known as techno-sorcery. It took the work of machines and literally a little piece of magic, and the results were very interesting. In this particular memory, the captive had an energy turbine around his head, and said turbine was starting to rotate with a low hum building up. The turbine spun faster, the hum rising in pitch and volume before a torrent of fire erupted from it, completely engulfing the captive. Lych just watched in grim fascination as the turbine slowed and the captive was revealed, completely unscathed. The captive looked down, staring at his hands, before looking at the chains binding them. He focused on them, and they started to glow. The captive had melted the chains, and he hadn't even winced from the contact of the burning metal on his skin. He stood up and slammed his hands on Lych's observation window. His hands glowed again, causing the window to dissolve, crystalline tears running down and pooling on the floor. Lych quickly walked backwards, into his security chamber. He pulled the door shut and deadlocked it. His former captive raised his hand and gout of flame erupted from it, licking against the door, but not harming it. The captive, no, pyromancer tilted his head before stepping back and launching a fireball at the door, leaving a scorch mark on the door. From inside his chamber, Lych pressed a single button, and a rush of air was heard. The pyromancer stopped, looking around before realising what had happened: the air had been evacuated from the room. The pyromancer started choking, clutching his throat before falling to the ground, spasming, before growing still. Lych pulled out a microphone and spoke into it.

"Subject 14, terminated. Pyrokinesis transferred into host successfully, mental repercussions still present."

Lych was rudely awoken be a loud explosion which came from the holding cells. He frowned. Latias should be out cold, let alone be able to use her abilities like that. He got up, picking up his gun, he woke the rest of his team, telling them to do the same. All ten scientists walked to the holding cell containing Latias and their new prisoner Mac. They trained their weapons on the door, and Lych walked to the control panel, counting down on his fingers before opening the door. He pressed the button, and the door slid open. From inside, Mac could be heard screaming. The rest of the team went inside to find Mac pinned in the corner by Latias, who was barbarically clawing and biting at him. The wall was dotted with scorch marks where Latias' flame breath had seared the metal. Mac was grappling with Latias, trying to keep her held back so that she didn't get into biting distance. Lych turned to his team.

"Knock Latias out. We need them alive."

The team holstered their guns, pulling out a syringe while Lych switched triggers on his gun. He took aim, and fired at Latias. The needle sailed through the air before striking an invisible barrier and falling to the ground. She was using Protect.

"Lych, she's using Protect. It encompasses her and Mac. There's nothing we can do."

The team watched as Latias continued to swipe at Mac, only turning away as three of the team fell, clutching their heads, unconscious. Lych looked at Latias. She had stopped attacking Mac, and he was stood, completely fine, bearing a long cut on his arm from one of Latias' claws. With eyes blazing with blue energy, Latias caused the rest of Lych's team to fall, and Lych himself was slammed against the wall by an immense force. Latias and Mac ran past him, straight through the open door. Lych picked up his gun, stood up and ran after them, but the door slid closed he slammed into it. Locked. From outside, he heard Mac say "Just as planned"...

Mac and Latias were now stood outside the cell, and the science team were locked in. Mac turned to Latias and spoke.

"Just as planned."

Both of them burst into laughter, revelling in their small but significant victory. They started their walk to the elevator before Mac stopped. He spoke again

"Latias, we can't let this work carry on. There's too much of a chance of these experiments being used for evil. We have to destroy them."

Latias turned to him.

"I understand, but how?"

Mac thought for a while, looking around the lab.

"There's too much equipment running at the same time for the Mains to be of any use. There should be a voltmeter around here, or a breaker box."

"Over on the wall."

Mac walked to it, reading the information on the box. The input read out at 675 volts.

"Latias, the readout is at 675 volts. They must have a transformer somewhere. We need to destroy it. That should stop them."

"But how do we do that?"

"Step one: find transformer. The system should have a blueprint or something."

Mac walked over to one of the computers dotted around the lab and started to root through the files stored there, eventually finding a diagram of the electricity distribution throughout the lab, and the exact location of the transformer that was upping the voltage. Mac sighed heavily and put his head in his hands.

"Why can't anything be simple?"

Latias turned to him.

"What's wrong?"

Mac explained: "Overloading the transformer will destroy any appliance connected to it. But the transformer is at the bottom of the elevator shaft. The car has electromagnetic clamps. If we overload the transformer, the clamps will fail, causing the car to fall, crushing anyone down there. We can't destroy it without killing ourselves at the same time."

"Mac, you're forgetting one thing."

"What's that?"

Latias chuckled.

"The people who designed this building didn't create a contingency for a dragon being involved. A psychic one at that. I can hold the elevator up while we get out of the way."

Mac stood up, jumped and put his arms on Latias' long white neck.

"Latias, you are brilliant! We can still destroy the work going on here without getting killed. The elevator's over there. There must be some sort of maintenance hatch on the car."

They made their way to the doors, and Mac pressed the button. The doors opened, revealing the interior of the car. A few lights, a control panel with only 5 buttons, and in the middle of the floor, a hatch. Mac pointed it out to Latias.

"Can you psychic it open?"

"Easily."

Latias' eyes shone blue, and the panel also glowed. A click was heard from the hatch, and Mac lifted it up. He peered into the darkness, his eyes perceiving a faint light from below. Latias, on the other hand, could clearly see the metallic bulk of the transformer; she could also hear the fans on it whirring away. She pointed to the side of the shaft.

"Ladder."

Mac lowered himself through the hatch, reaching across and grabbing hold of one of the rungs. He swung the rest of his body over and began his descent as Latias floated through the hatch and descended at the same rate as Mac. Above them, the lift began to raise, an autonomous system causing the motors to work to allow the workers in the shaft to do their jobs. Reaching the bottom of the shaft, Mac walked to the transformer, the electricity arcing onto the Faraday cage containing it.

"That's going to be a problem. If either of us go in there, we'll be electrocuted before we can do anything. There should be a pathway made of non-conductive material."

Latias, being a dragon, could see in much more detail than Mac, even in this darkness. Inside the cage, she could see a different material on the floor. She pointed it out to Mac.

"Thank you Latias. It's a good thing that you can see better than I can. Mac found the gate that was on the cage, and pulled on the insulated handle. He jumped, landing squarely on his feet on the insulated floor. The electricity couldn't hurt him until his body was grounded or if he touched another conductor. He walked to the transformer. On a control panel, several switches were regulating the feed to the rest of the lab. Several switches, however, were in the "off" position. Mac flipped all of the switches upwards, causing an immediate effect. The electricity arcing from the transformer intensified, releasing large bolts of energy which were starting to burn through the Faraday cage. Red lights started to blink rapidly on the control panel, gauges falling into the red zone. The heat was already building in the shaft as a result of the intensified electricity. But they had bigger problems.

Bigger, as in an elevator cart about to crush them.

"Mac! The elevator is coming loose!"

Above them, the electricity was forming four bright spots on the wall next to the elevator car. These areas suddenly exploded, destroying the electromagnetic clamps and sending the elevator bearing down on the duo beneath. Latias flew up and started to use Protect, the green barrier flickering into existence. Then Latias used Psychic, the blue energy burning out of her eyes and slowing the elevator car down, eventually stopping it. Latias was struggling though.

"Mac, you have to go now! I won't be able to hold this up for very long!"

Immediately, Mac ran down the insulated pathway, leaping onto the ladder and climbing as fast as he could. He felt a shock pass through him as the omnipresent electricity grounded itself out on the ladder. Mac was halfway up the ladder to the door when he heard a large creak from above. Latias was in visible pain, the elevator was beginning to slip despite her best efforts.

"Mac, you have to hurry! I can't hold out much longer!"

Mac redoubled his efforts; reaching the door in half the time it took him to go the first half. The doors were still shut, so he started to pry them apart with a strip of metal. Above him, the elevator was steadily sliding down, Latias' strength futile against the mechanical deadweight. With a final cry, Latias could take the strain for any longer, her Psychic and Protect fading. She flew down as Mac opened the door far enough to get through. The duo leaped through the opening as the elevator crashed down behind them, tonnes of steel crushing the transformer below. The cable then followed, tearing through the car as if it were made of paper. Mac and Latias had escaped. Just.

Inside the cell, Lych and his scientists noticed a difference in the lighting. The lights above them were glowing brighter, the room brightening to a point where it was painful to look. Just as the light reached its peak, the lights exploded, sending razor sharp shards of glass shooting downwards onto the helpless scientists, tearing deep furrows into flesh and sending blood splattering up the walls and across the floor. All of the scientists were looking at the lights when they exploded, a mistake which cost them dearly as the shards rained down. The glass had cut into exposed throats eyes, barely leaving them enough air to scream with. Lych, being a fast reactor, had managed to pull two of the team and himself to the ground to avoid being killed by the shards. If the power was overloaded, the. The cell's powered locks wouldn't be functioning. Lych told the remainder of his team to pick up two guns each, as they were going to recapture their dragon and their unwanted houseguest.

Mac and Latias now had to get out of the lab. They had just destroyed the easy way out, so they had to find another.

"Latias, I came in through the vents. There should be a way through to the surface otherwise this place would be airless. We just have to find it."

"Mac, there's an armoury over there. We could something for defending ourselves with."

"Good idea."

They went to the door and forced it open. Inside, there were no weapons, just several clear, plastic shields. Mac picked one up while Latias took the rest with her Psychic. Mac held his up, and Latias formed hers into a shield wall.

"Well, we couldn't really get a better defence than this. Let's find that vent. They made their way across the lab. Halfway across the room, a needle slammed into Mac's shield and dropped to the floor. He looked up, and Lych was stood there, badly cut, with two of his scientists. They all dropped to one knee, bringing their needle guns to bear. Mac screamed at Latias to bring her shield wall up, and she did so, the cloud of needles bouncing off the shields and dropping to the floor. Seeing that their weapons would be useless with a frontal assault, the other two scientists flanked around them, going beyond the protective range of the shields. Mac quickly told Latias to bring the shields into a ring around them both, protecting them from the needles. The scientists then stopped, searching for an opening, and Lych spoke.

"So, we have the boy and the dragon, trapped in a shield wall, nowhere to go. But really, did you think that we'd let you go so easily? So much potential shouldn't be wasted. Think of the advancements you could make to science. You could have so much power at your fingertips. So, you could surrender, and we'll carry on with the tests, most likely with you knowing how to use moves. Or, you could stay where you are, and then be killed by us. It's time to choose."

Mac looked to Latias, to the vent, to the scientists and then to the needles on the floor.

"It's time to choose."

Mac looked at Lych, and spoke.

"We'll that sounds pretty tempting, but how about I give you the finger, and we'll just be going now."

Once Mac had said that, Latias sent three shields smashing into each scientist, sending them into the walls. Mac ran to the vent while Latias flew into the shaft again, wrenching the door shut behind her. Mac crawled through the vents, reaching an opening leading into the shaft. Next to him was a ladder, the rungs protruding from the wall, he pulled himself out of the vent and began to climb. But he could hear someone climbing through the vent. As he climbed, he looked down and saw Lych grab the ladder and climb after him. Lych was much faster than Mac, and he soon caught up. He grabbed Mac's foot and started to pull in an attempt to unbalance Mac and send him pitching into the darkness below. Mac tried to get his foot loose, but Lych was too strong. He spoke.

"Going somewhere? I can't just let you walk out of here, can I?"

Mac tried again to remove Lych's hand from his foot, but he wouldn't let go. Mac had a different idea. He kicked the wall as hard as he could and below him, Lych screamed in pain. He let go of Mac's foot and Mac kicked Lych's head. He snapped back, bringing his hands to his head before realising the severity of his mistake. Mac gave one final kick and Lych was sent falling down the shaft, landing among the electrified ruin of the elevator car. Mac looked down, searching for any sign of life. It wasn't possible. No-one could survive a fall like that. Mac turned away and climbed to the top of the shaft, going to the vent the he had got into the base with. But before he did, he noticed that Latias was missing.

"Latias? Latias, where are you?"

"Invisible, just above your head."

Mac reached upwards and sure enough, his hand was blocked by a feathered object that was invisible.

"How long can you stay invisible for?"

"As long as I want."

Mac started to crawl into the vent, but there was no way that Latias would fit.

"Latias, you have to meet me outside. You need to stay invisible until you see me though, otherwise they'll recapture you."

"Outside. Got it."

Mac heard the door open, and then close. Through a grille, he could see two grunts standing guard suddenly spin around in alarm.

"Why did the door open?"

The grunt that had just spoke looked into the shaft.

"That's some drop. How could something come out?"

His friend turned to him.

"You must have been leaning on the button. Relax, it's nothing."

Both grunts turned back to their posts. Above them, Latias was silently floating down the corridor. She was confident that she couldn't be seen, but she always acted as if she could, just to be safe. She could sense Mac making his way through the vents, heading towards freedom much like herself. She had her advantage of invisibility, Mac had his in the form of the vent system.

From inside the vent, Mac could hear the faint chatter of the guards posted around the building. He was being as quiet as possible, but every now and then he scuffed against something, causing a small clang. So far, his luck had held. He had been able to feel the breeze from outside at every junction he'd been at, leading him to the outside world. He came upon another junction and stopped. He faced each direction in turn, feeling wind on the second one. He followed it, rounding a corner and seeing light at the end of the vent. He crawled towards it and looked down. He was directly above a door, but there were two guards posted there. Mac thought to himself, thinking what to do before having an idea. Neither of the guards had helmets on, so he could drop the grille on one and jump the other. Taking his knife, he started to unscrew the bolts holding the grille in place. He pulled it free and lined it up above the guard's head, and let go, jumping towards the other guard at the same time. The grille hit the first guard, knocking him out with no more than a grunt of surprise. The other guard immediately took out his pistol a split second before Mac landed on him. As they hit the ground, guard dropped his pistol, which Mac picked up and clubbed him with. With both guards out cold, he pulled an ID card from one of them and opened the door. He felt a disturbance in the air, and Latias materialised beside him. Mac closed the door again.

"We made it! But... what now?"

Mac mulled this over, deciding on their next move, when someone else made that choice for them. A ringing noise started above them, a high, repetitive ringing which was uncomfortable to those who hear it. Mac and Latias looked to where the noise was coming from and saw a propeller with a camera attached to it.

"They've found us!"

Latias threw up a hasty Protect as a rain of bullets slammed into it. Mac backed across the courtyard with Latias in tow, her shield blocking the projectiles, keeping them safe. Mac reached the gate and began to climb over it, Latias rising with him to stop the bullets from hitting him. Mac fell to the ground on the other side and began to run down the road leading back to Dinnington, Latias flying beside him. They heard the gates open back at the printing press.

"You're too slow! This is taking too long."

Mac was running flat out, and he couldn't go any faster.

"That's easy for you to say. You can fly. I can't."

Even as Mac said that, his feet left the ground, suspended above it. Latias had lifted him beneath the arms and was now flying faster than he could ever run. They covered the road to Dinnington in less than two minutes, the fields blurring either side of them. Before they reached the town, Mac told her to stop.

"We can't have a dragon flying around, and we can't have me flying around either. You'll have to let me walk back to my house. Follow me."

Latias hovered above his head and turned invisible again, vanishing from view. Mac began his walk into the town, heading for the road that his house was on. He deliberately took every back road or alley he could, avoiding the main roads so he wasn't caught if the soldiers had followed them here. He trailed through the final alley which led onto the road his house was on and headed for the door. Unlocking it, he whispered for Latias to come inside. He heard her behind him, so he closed the door and locked it. He walked up to his room and collapsed onto the bed.

"My mum's away, so we don't have to worry about anyone coming in. Make yourself comfortable. We're safe. For now."

When Latias didn't reply, he turned and looked at her. She was slowly turning in mid-air, scanning the room curiously. She looked at the TV, and then to the white Xbox underneath it, poking it warily.

"What does this do?"

Mac looked at her. He picked up the controller and passed another to her.

"Hold on, I'll show you."

**Brick joke. Teehee.**

**Well there you have it. Incarceration is complete. To find out what happens next, check out "Home" by TheModerator. Speaking of you, what did you think? Was it up to standard?**

**I'm in the process of writing another story. This one completely different. Set in the Sonic world as Trazyn infiltrates with one goal... Check out "Of a time of war". Rated M for Manly. (It's not a happy story, or at least, it won't be.)**

**Also, ask me anything on Tumblr. Search for Aura's Dynasty.**

**That's all for this story. Aura, out.**


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